Hachiman Hikigaya
Hachiman Hikigaya (比企谷 八幡, Hikigaya Hachiman) is the main protagonist. He is a student in class 2F of Sōbu High School. He is the member of Service Club. Appearance Hachiman is a teenage boy with short black hair, and His most prominent feature is his set of "dead fish-eyes". He is seen wearing his school uniform. Hachiman more than once mentions that he has a handsome face.To which Yukino retaliates by saying that he has rotten eyes .Without commenting anything about his face In anime version when ever Hachiman's past are shown,It must be noted that his eyes was covered by shadow or his eyes were purposely never shown to audience Personality He is an apathetic, isolated, friendless boy. Hachiman firmly believes that "youth" is simply an illusion created by hypocrites, for hypocrites are born from the ashes of past failuresMy Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU Anime: episode 3; part B According to Komachi, he’s not very photogenic. He does things by himself and never relied on anyone, since he doesn't have any friends to rely on.In class he talk to himself which is mentioned in light novel. Shizuka describes his personality as rebellious and loner prone. She also says that he has the nature of a petty criminal and Spineless goon which Yukino instantly agrees with.She is the first person to point out his rotten eyes to rotten heart. Yukino describes his personality as rotten, like Shizuka said, and he has a sour attitude.My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong as I Expected Manga: Volume 1; chapter 1 pg.18-30 My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong as I Expected Light Novel: Volume 1; prologue My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU Anime: episode 2; part A . Yui says that the way he acts in class is "totally gross" or "disgusting".My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU Anime: episode 2; part B In fact both Yukino and Yui often used words such as "gross" and "disgusting" to describe Hachiman. It was mentioned in the light novel that in middle school time, he used to love self cos-play. He was also little otakus. He has list of "Definitely unforgivable people" with him along with the list of "I didn't want to meet". Hachiman tried his best to be sociable in the mid of middle school life, but after all steps failed, decided to stay alone and developed his apathetic, pessimistic attitude. He often wishes to be a loner. His pessimistic attitudes were clearly mentioned in light novel ,He firmly believes that nothing good happens to him and forces himself not to hope for anything .He makes other hate him in a way to keep himself at a distance, so that he won't be disappointed or hurt by their superficial acting.He feels him to be a hindrance to others and avoids being there with them, He believes this action of his to be concern for them. Hachiman believes that he is insignificant and thus is willing to take on blames in order to keep everyone else happy. He refuses to change, as he believes that no matter what changes the individual goes through, people will only look at that person in the same way as before(First impression). He often points out all example from his own life experience by saying " Source : Me". He often blames the society for his personality and other problems as-well. His personality stems from his harsh childhood experiences where he was ostracized and his actions were made as a joke to laugh for others , for no reason made known to the audience. Despite his 'rotten' personality he does show signs of being kind underneath his exterior. As shown by the various methods he goes through for the sake of other people.He keeps his face often stiff and thus surprising everyone by his concern for the individual.He may be seen as dense person but it is actually just a facade to avoid any hard feelings due to expectations by his experience from his unwanted past. Later, In Light novel he realized his mistakes in doing things and thus vows to change little by little, as he knows that his entire personality can't be swept under the mattress in one day.He gives his word to the service club members that he will do something about his attitude, during his request to help Isshiki. However, he wants to forget his past traumatic experience and wished to reset his life, thus avoids every one from his middle school. His hobbies include reading,watching T.V and sleeping. Ideals Doesn't have any (yet?) First Essay According to Hachiman, those who enjoy "youth" fit any event or their surroundings to their belief system of "youth" for self-confirmation. For example, those who enjoy "youth" believe lies, secrets, sins and failures are simply the beginning of what makes "youth" interesting. He may imply that by following "youth", one ignores the consequences of their actions. Plus, he may imply that by enjoying "youth", one loses their moral standing. If so it follows that those who claim to enjoy it are deluding themselves and others. A lie in a sense is something that misleads or deceives. It follows that according to Hachiman "youth" is a lie because those who follow it ignore the consequences of their actions. An evil is in a sense something that brings distress, calamity or sorrow. It follows that according to Hachiman "youth" is an evil. They more readily inflict pain on themselves and others, because those who follow it aren't as bound by morality and delight in failure. Those who enjoy "youth" are full of double standards as implied by their disposition for self-confirmation. To illustrate, if failure marks the beginning of an interesting "youth", Hachiman who failed to make friends should be at the height of his "youth". However, they would make an exception for him. Thus, Hachiman thinks those who follow youth are hypocritical and evil liars and he concludes that they should die.My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU Anime: episode 1; prologue My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong as I Expected Light Novel: Volume 1; prologue My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong as I Expected Manga: chapter 1 pg.1-2 More at Looking Back on High School Life Report. Second Essay Hachiman implies that with social groups there is a choice. One can either be a "carnivore" or "herbivore". "Carnivores" form social hierarchies and those who aren't on top are burdened with failure until they die. On the other hand, "herbivores" must abandon their comrades to avoid predators which leads to guilt. He may imply that "herbivores" form groups for cynical reasons such as avoiding predators. In either case, forming a group of herbivores only benefits the strongest individuals reliably. Thus, both groups counter-intuitively only benefit the individuals at the top of each respective group. In other words, to an average or below person there is no benefit. It follows that Hachiman would choose to be a bear, which is a solitary animal, to avoid any social groups. A solitary animal doesn't feel anxiety from solitude. Accordingly, Hachiman wouldn't have to experience the emotional disadvantages of his lonesome lifestyle.My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU Anime: episode 2; prologue Abilities He can also cook curry as mentioned in light novel. He also did house chores, when his sister was in elementary school concerning her safety from sharp instruments of kitchen.He has some artistic skills ,as he drawn a Bear in His second essay.He has the ability to see through people's facade ,superficial acting and hidden meaning behind words. He is also a faster learner once he understand things clearly ,This can be seen in light novel when he quickly grasped the functionality of student council from Cultural and Athletic Committee ,From which he implemented his tactics in Christmas collaboration event of Sobu High school and Kaihin Sougou High schools ,And thus suprising his middle school class mate Kaori Orimoto made her wonder if Hachiman was in student council in middle school ,Even though she very well knew that he wasn't Academics He is implied to be skilled at Japanese, as he holds the third highest score in his year in Japanese while the first place is taken by Yukino and second place by Hayama. My Youth Romantic Comedy is Wrong as I Expected Manga: chapter 1 pg.29 Hachiman also seems knowledgeable at Japanese history. He quickly deduced that Yoshiteru Zaimokuza's delusions were based on the 13th Shogun of the Muromachi Shogunate. Furthermore, he also awares that he shares the name with a Bodhisattva. Even Yukino has admitted that he knows his history. My Youth Romantic Comedy is Wrong as I Expected Manga: chapter 4 pg.11 Besides, Hachiman are also proficient in English, especially advanced vocabulary such as outsourcing, job rotation etc. However, he's incredibly bad at Science and Maths, an example of this being when he confused a hernia for herpes, and he generally score 9/100 in maths.Most of the time he shows his presence of mind and intelligence in case of social & personal understanding of the individuals.Shizuka points ot that his test scores are alone is good ,Indicating that he doesn't learn , but knows how to score marks without proper content. In later chapters it is shown that Hachiman is a great leader. He thinks outside of the box, minimizing risks for everyone involved, even though he is not in the Student Council. The few people that realized Hachiman's leadership potential are Shizuka, who brought him to the Service club, Shiromeguri Meguri, by debate we can include Yukino, Yui, Isshiki, Orimoto and probably Hayama as-well. Sports Hachiman is skilled at tennis according to Saika, however in raw skill he's no match for Yukino, Hayama and Yumiko.My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU Anime: episode 3; part A-B Hachiman is skilled at swimming, according to the drama cd, he swam two kilometers in middle school because he had nothing else to do when his class had pool lessons. In the light novel it was mentioned that in middle school Hachiman got 'A' in sports test earning him a medal. History Since his birthday falls in summer vacation, he was never wished by his classmates. He never received any cookie from the opposite gender during valentines day, even from his own mother. When He was a kid, he didn’t have many friends, and so he invented the new sport of one-player baseball–He would throw the ball by himself, hit it by himself, and catch it by himself. When he tried to devise a scheme to make the game last as long as possible, he realized that super bat-and-catch was the best way to lengthen the game. This gave birth to his final serve named by Zaimokuza as Meteor Strike in Tennis court showdown against Hayama and Yumiko pair. He feared of asking anyone about the content on an upcoming test, and instead ,He just studied silently alone and then faced the consequences directly later ,because of his unwanted past with fellow students.This leave him with no Choice of clarifying doubts or lessons ,Especially in science and maths leading to poor grades. Before Middle School In elementary school, students were doing a folk dance. He danced with the air for the "Oklahoma Mixer". To illustrate, Hachiman was paired up with a girl but she didn't want to hold hands. The other girls followed suit.My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU Anime: episode 8; part A In 4th grade, his classmates forgot his name and nicknamed him "Froggy". They made jokes that were related to his nickname.My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU Anime: episode 7; part B A group of kids were playing tag while Hachiman stood still. The "it" aims to pass a virus named after him. Accordingly the Hikigerma virus was so powerful that barriers were ineffective.My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU Anime: episode 5; part A In the light novel he played Mario tennis by himself. He received corn as a birthday present by his mother's friend given to him by her son who he thought to be his friend. Middle School In middle school there is a chummy atmosphere between students and teachers, everyone addresses each other by first name with the exception of Hachiman. Classes got reshuffled and everyone exchanged numbers. Hachiman mustered courage and eagerly searched for a girl. He found one and she reluctantly exchanged numbers.My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU Anime: episode 4; part A Hachiman used to text girls often. In Hachiman's words, he would get a dismissive reply 40% of the time(hachiman says that he text them at 7 P.M but gets reply in the morning like “sorry, my battery ran out” or “looks like I was out of range for a bit” or "I was sleepy,See you at school" ) and 30% of the time he would get no reply. The remaining 30% was from a foreigner called "MAILER-DAEMON" (Hachiman didn't seems to know, that it is a computer program for managing mail ids), indicating that the girl likely gave him a fake address. At some time, Hachiman went to Chiba Village for Nature Studies My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU Anime: episode 7; part A , which he later visits again after joining Service club as Summer activity. When he was in 8th grade of new semester, the role of class boys representative was dumped on him by the fellow male students. While a girl volunteered for to be a girl representative, that girl frequently talked to him. He thought she was interested in him. One day, he decided to ask her who she liked. She replied with the first letter which was "H". Hachiman asked if it was him. The girl was surprised and disgusted. The Very next day Hachiman saw a drawing mocking him on the class chalkboard much to his shock and dismay the whole class know about it, even though it was just the two of them at that time.My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong as I Expected Manga: chapter 2 pg.27-28 My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU Anime: episode 1; part B In drama C.D, it was mentioned in middle school that there was a girl he liked who belonged to the wind instrument club. On that girl’s birthday, Hachiman gave her a present, by staying up all night compiling a bunch of anime songs to recommend. He paid careful attention to the song selection. His present was accepted. But tragedy occurred the next day. At lunch time, in the PA system of the school, The broadcast committee chose his song by saying : ‘"Aaaand the next song was requested by Class 2C’s Otagaya Hachiman-kun (snicker), a love song (snicker) for Yamashita-san!’". After this incident, the name Otagaya passed on even after his graduation which is mentioned by his sister Komachi who is studying in the same school Before or after the above confession, Hachiman confessed to another girl (In light novel Kaori-chan). Her response was to instead "just be friends" but they never spoke again.My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong as I Expected Light Novel: Volume 1; chapter 1 My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong as I Expected Manga: chapter 1 pg.21 My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU Anime: episode 1; part A The last time he talked to a girl was two years before the current time in June. He made a joke in response to an unnamed girl who was complaining about the heat. It turned out she was actually talking to another girl. What followed was an awkward situation. Whenever Hachiman recalls this memory, he hides and screams to himself under his futon.My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong as I Expected Light Novel: Volume 1; chapter 1 My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong as I Expected Manga: chapter 1 pg.26 My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU Anime: episode 1; part A It was mentioned in the light novel, whether it was field trip or any other school outing trips, he always walks behind them like a shadow and they never took his opinion for consideration. It was also mentioned that he also been through a Confessions of love by the opposite gender as penalty for losing at rock-paper-scissors, fake love letters written by boys who copy down what girls dictate to them. It was also mentioned that those who he thought to be his friends introduced him to others as Classmate. It was also mentioned that everyone burst out laughing during the closing ceremony, when hachiman went to receive a medal for the A score in Sports test. High School After the middle school, he doesn't want to have any contacts with his middle school mate, which he states as Reset or Deletion in relationship. However by coincidence, he met Orimoto later in the series. He goes to school by bike ,Despite the long distance and intense Weather of hot summers and blisteringly cold winters ,The main reason is to avoid his class mate and acquaintance ,Which hachiman feels as Concern for them by not getting in their way. On the day of the High School-entrance ceremony, he was excited about his new student life. To the point where, Hachiman was running an hour early. While travelling he spotted and saved Yui's dog from a potential car crash. The result was a hospital stay, with a bone fracture, lasting three weeks. After that Hachiman was destined to enter school alone in his words.My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU Anime: episode 4; part A He was forced to join the Service club by his future counselor, Shizuka sensei, in the hopes of getting him into shape. At some time, Komachi ran away from home once because she hated returning to an empty house. It was Hachiman who found her and he has been returning home before her ever since. However, in the light novel it was mentioned to be a lie told by Komachi to make Saki understand her brother's worries.My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU Anime: episode 5; part B At lunch, Hachiman eats alone at his favorite spot because of the nice sea breezes that blow in from the shore. During gym class, Hachiman practices against a wall by himself since as usual by his own scheme, he doesn't have a tennis partner, thus he plays squash. In the recent past, he is usually sleeping or reading during breaks according to Yui.My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU Anime: episode 3; part A He suggest practical suggestions to all the request to the service club, he goes to the extent of scapegoat himself for the sake of others ,As he very well knows that the society will blame someone or someone will become the short end of the stick. As a result, he has a bad reputation and loathed by almost all students in the school, due to misunderstandings. Fortunately for him, it is only temporary and blows over afterwards. In the light novel, Hachiman is the only one who doesn't get space to write his future goals in year book. It was also mentioned that he had more than one part time jobs before joining the service club but none seems to exceed more than 3 months. Hachiman took Liberal Arts as his third year course, Yui says that he is only good at liberal arts indicating that he is bad at science and maths Almost all characters who interact with him personally show their true nature to him. Quotes *"I hate nice girls. Just by exchanging greetings with them will get them on your mind. Start texting each other, and your heart will be set a flutter. If they call you, you're done for. Enjoy staring at your logs and grinning like a fool. However, I won't be fooled again. That's what your kind calls kindness. If you are nice to me, you're also nice to others. I always end up nearly forgetting that. Reality is cruel, so I'm sure lies are a form of kindness. Thus, I say kindness itself is also a lie. I always ended up with these expectations. And I always ended up with these misunderstandings. And before I knew it, I stopped hoping. A highly-trained loner is once bitten, twice shy. As a veteran on this battlefield of life, I've gotten used to losing. That's why I will always… hate nice girls."My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU Anime: episode 5; part B *"We only change to avoid the current situation. The true meaning of not running away is planting your feet firmly in the ground and doing the best you can with your present. Who's running away now? Why can't you just accept who you are and who you were?"My Youth Romantic Comedy is Wrong as I Expected Manga: chapter 1 pg.39 *"Hardwork betrays none, but dreams betray many. Working hard alone doesn't assure you that you'll achieve your dreams. Actually, there are more cases where you don't. Even so, working hard at something is some consolation at least." *"Guys are simple creatures. They get the wrong idea just from getting talked to. They'd be happy just getting handmade cookies. They don't need to taste good." * "I hate private parties and inside jokes… Ah, but I do like internal strife. Cuz I’m not on the inside!” *"The world won't change, you must change yourself in this world. Now, how will you change yourself? Answer is, you become the god of the new world." *"We're back to how we started and can now live our own lives again. There's no reset button on life, but at least you can reset your relationships." *"People often say, "If I change myself, I'll change the world." That's a load of crap. People's judgment of others create a stereotype, and that's the impression that lasts. Loners are forced to do things alone. If you try to stand out by working hard at something, you just become a target for attack. It's the rotten rule of the children's kingdom." *"MOT is cool and awesome!" *"There's probably no one who's more of a realist than the unpopular loner. I have lived my life with the Three Nevers of the Unpopular: Never to hold (hope), Never to open (your heart), Never to treasure (sweet words)." *"Hey, stop getting so chummy with me, I might even start treating you as a friend." *"The rich want their private jets and beaches. So it follows that loners, who always have plenty of private time, are the victors in life. Ergo, being alone is the new status symbol." * “I want something genuine.” Trivia * Hachiman has some artistic skill.My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU ''Anime: episode 2; part A '' * Hachiman has a list of people to Defenitely unforgivable people.My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU ''Anime: episode 2; part B '' * Hachiman dotes on his little sister to a high degree. * Hachiman Cat's name is Kamakura. * Hachiman knows many things about Chiba and has an incredible love for his home town Chiba. * Hachiman wants to be a househusband someday. * Hachiman used to drink tea in the volunteers club in a paper cup, but later Yui and Yukino gave him a cup with an image of Pan-san as a gift and as a way to show him that he is important to the both of them. References Category:Characters Category:Male Characters Category:Main Characters Category:Service Club Category:Class 2F Category:Sobu High School